Fans make ‘pilgrimage’ to our neighbour’s home from iconic BBC sitcom – tragedy made us realise how loved our street is
LOCALS have told how their neighbour's home is inundated with fans making a 'pilgrimage' to the iconic BBC sitcom location.
But it took a tragedy for neighbours to realise how loved their Bristol street really was.
Now, residents have called for a blue plaque to be installed outside the house made famous by the 1980s anarchic comedy, The Young Ones.
It’s been 40 years since the BBC sitcom hit TV screens, delving into the mad exploits of Scumbag College polytechnic students.
The story was set in London, but many of the gang’s crazy, often slapstick, adventures were played out on location in and around Bristol.
And the most renowned location was the exterior of a house they rented from eccentric faux-Russian landlord Jerzei, played by Alexei Sayle.
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The home is a real-life property on Codrington Road in Bishopston.
Locals have told how fans flock to their street to take pictures outside the house.
Neighbour Emma Hinkins, 51, from Bishopston, Bristol said the death of Rik Mayall who played obnoxious, poetry-writing Rick in the sitcom, led to hundreds of flowers being left outside the house.
She said it was only after his death she realised how loved the show was.
“After Rik’s death, people were turning up and taping flowers to the lamp-post," she said.
“There were dozens of them and in the end we had to gather them up and put them in a special home-made shrine outside the house.
“We’ve lived in the house next door for more than 12 years and always knew about the association with the Young Ones.
“We would regularly see people come and take photographs and be pictured outside house, but it was only after Rik’s death that we realised it had been loved by so many people.”
Even Young Ones star Nigel Planer has made a return visit to the house for the first time in almost 40 years.
Nigel, now 70, starred as Peace Studies student Neil Pye in the hit comedy.
Nigel said: “It’s interesting to look back on it now and see it was possible for everyone to be fun and have a laugh.
“It was years ago but of course a lot comes flooding back when you go back to this house where you spent a lot of formative time. The Young Ones wouldn’t be made today - no question.
“The younger generation are very different now, there’s a lot more responsibility on their shoulders. You wouldn’t be making something now that’s four guys shouting at each other.
"I don’t think it was a golden age. There was a load of crap made then, you just don’t remember the rubbish ones.”
The show, written by Ben Elton, Rik Mayall and Lise Mayer, focused on the lives of four students, who were studying at the fictional Scumbag College.
Voted as number 31 in the BBC's Best Sitcom poll in 2004, it is widely held as an icon of British culture in the 1980s.
Dominic Bridgman, 55, a software consultant, who lives opposite the Young One’s house, said: “There’s barely a week goes by when there aren’t people outside taking photos of the house.
“It’s become almost a place of pilgrimage for those who loved the series.
“These visitors aren’t young people who have just discovered the series, these are people in their 50s and 60s who remember the original series.
“Something really should be done to commemorate the fact that the house has gone into the public consciousness.”
Dominic, who bought his house 20 years ago, was told by the previous owner that his house even had a part in one of the episodes.
He said: “I was told that they wanted to shoot from our bathroom window looking down on the house pretending to spy on others.
“Coming from Wolverhampton I didn’t know about the part Bristol played in the Young Ones, but my wife who is Bristolian was well aware of it.”
Sam Haward, 33, from Easton, Bristol, was too young to remember the original series but his parents were great fans.
“I’ve seen many of the episodes and although it’s probably something which wouldn’t be made today it was a product of its time. The characters are fantastic and the writing was excellent.
“It would be nice if they put up a Blue Plaque because it would certainly make an otherwise ordinary street different.”
Paul Jordan, 22, a University of Bristol business student, said the Young Ones still had a cult following when he was at school.
He said: “I first saw the Young Ones on YouTube and it instantly struck a chord with me. I know it was set in the 1980s but it was the characters who made it.
“I live just around the corner and it’s great to see people stopping to take selfies outside the house - and these are not young people they are people in their 60s who are wanting to remember when they were ‘Young Ones’. The council should put a plaque up to celebrate such an iconic series."
Sheralee Curtis, 32, a graphic designer, said she had been asked if she wanted to go on a walking tour taking in all the sites featured in the series.
She said: “When I first came to study in Bristol there was a group at the university which held walking tours around all the sites used in The Young Ones.
“I remember they took us to a pub which used to be called the Cock of the North in Henleaze which was the pub called the Kebab and Calculator in the series.
“I wasn’t a big fan at the time but after being on the walk I took more notice and now I really love the series.”
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It comes after locals blast tourists for ruining their picturesque town by flocking to get Instagram pictures.
And residents near Peppa Pig World say they built a barricade to stop tourists picnicking in their gardens.
